Gabby Salazar ’09 has always found
a way to combine her love of photography with business. In high school,
the aspiring nature photographer
started selling portraits in her hometown of Pleasant Garden, N.C., to
earn the money necessary to pursue
her hobby.

FEATURE
Now, Salazar is entering yet another business venture spurred by
her interest in photography ­— she
is the editor of the new Nature’s Best
Photography for Kids, a nature photography magazine.
The magazine is a student edition of Nature’s Best Photography,
a quarterly publication that prints
wildlife photography from around
the globe.
Salazar, who was recognized in
2004 as the British Broadcasting
Corporation’s Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, conceived the
plan for the magazine when she was
interning at Nature’s Best Photography this summer.
Salazar said she mentioned the
idea for a children’s magazine during
a meeting this summer with Steve
Freligh, editor-in-chief and publisher
of Nature’s Best Photography — and
he immediately hopped on board.
Not only that, he told a surprised
Salazar that she could be editor.
Salazar wants to use this position
to help young people recognize their
power and their talents.
“I knew how many stories kids
have to tell and I really wanted to give
them a platform,” she said. “I wanted
to make them realize that they can
change the world.”
Freligh said he thinks Salazar will
continued on page 7

INSIDE:

3

CAMPUS WATCH

www.browndailyherald.com

After a tumultuous period of uncertainty, Brown Emergency Medical
Services is back on track with new
leadership, University officials and
student emergency medical technicians told The Herald.
Early last semester, EMS manager Richard Lapierre and supervisor
Anthony Fusco abruptly departed,
leaving the program short-staffed,
with only a temporary manager responsible for its coordination.
Student EMTs last semester
reported a tense environment created by poor communication from
University officials about the staff
changes and the decision to sell the
University’s second ambulance. “A lot
of the problems this semester have
come from student EMTs feeling like

they are being left out of the loop,”
Beth Hoffman ’07, then a senior EMT,
told The Herald in March.
Still, the program successfully received accreditation in a surprise audit
last spring and now has a new manager and two new professional EMT
supervisors, said Edward Wheeler,
director of Health Services.
Amy Sanderson-Roderick is now
the manager of safety and EMS, which
has a staff of four paid EMT supervisors and over 150 volunteers.
Sanderson-Roderick, who has
worked at the University as an EMT
supervisor for five years, characterized EMS as “a program undergoing
change,” adding that the program is
“full of positive energy and ready to
move forward.”
Now that she has been appointed
continued on page 4

Since Rhode Island’s largest
homeless shelter closed its doors
in March, Brown students and local advocates have collaborated to
revive Street Sights, a street newspaper that addresses homelessness
in the state.
Street Sights seeks to provide a
forum for students, advocates, state
officials and homeless individuals to “bring light on the subject
not often addressed, and to some
degree, ignored,” according to its
vision statement.

Street Sights’ current model —
a newsletter that is distributed by
staff members to various homeless
shelters and service organizations
within Rhode Island ­— is designed
to serve as a creative outlet for
homeless people, who are invited to
submit artwork and writings to the
newsletter, according to organizer
Elizabeth Ochs ’07.5.
The most recent Street Sights
issue, published in July, features poetry written by homeless people.
In addition, Street Sights aims
to help homeless people feel more
secure by providing them with
information they need on a daily

basis, Ochs said. The newsletter
features updates on current and
future shelter openings and discusses how people can gain access
to those shelters.
The goal of developing better
communication infrastructure
within the homeless community
prompted Street Sights’ revival in
March.
Earlier that month, Gov. Donald Carcieri ’65 shut down Cranston’s Welcome Arnold, the largest homeless shelter in the state.
Street Sights organizers used the
Courtesy of Matthew Silva

continued on page 9

Bob Pangborn, formerly homeless himself,
now works with the Street Sights paper.

Ken Miller ’70 P’02 is a professor of
biology at Brown and a nationallyrecognized expert on evolution, having testified in the controversial 2005
trial, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School
District, involving the teaching of
intelligent design in public schools
in Pennsylvania.
He has written numerous scientific articles on plant cells, a bestselling high school textbook and
is the author of “Finding Darwin’s
God: A Scientist’s Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution.” He is currently on sabbatical
and plans to release a new book entitled “Devil in the Details: Evolution
and the Battle for America’s Soul.”

Chris Bennett / Herald
Professor of Biology Ken Miller ’70 P’02 testified in landmark evolution court cases and wrote a
textbook used by millions, but he said his “Colbert Report” appearance most impresses students.

HMC’s EL-ERIAN OUT
Mohamed El-Erian, who
managed Harvard’s massive endowment for two
years, is quitting his job.

7

CAMPUS NEWS

’11 ELECTION RESULTS
Five members of the class of
2011 were elected Tuesday
to sit on the Undergraduate
Council of Students.

Herald: You recently spoke
about science, religion and
evolution at Wake Forest University’s opening convocation.
What did you tell the incoming
freshmen?
Miller: At the present time in
the United States, the teaching of

11

OPINIONS

195 Angell Street, Providence, Rhode Island

CLASS CAP MADNESS
Alison Schouten ‘08 says
seniors should get first
pick of upper-level courses
when using Banner.

biology, incredibly, has become a
controversial subject. Political science, history — I understand that,
but I don’t think of science as being
controversial.
I gave the students some of the
backdrop to that controversy. About
two years ago, there was a federal
trial on this issue in the small town of
Dover, Pa. The Dover school board
had instructed the teachers to prepare a curriculum on intelligent
design, but the teachers — at the
risk of being fired — had refused.
So, the school board drafted a fourparagraph intelligent design lesson
and had the superintendent go into
the classroom and read this to the
students while the teachers stood
outside in the hallway. Eleven parents in that district filed a lawsuit,
and I was the lead witness at the
trial.
What I did was to basically explain to the students at Wake Forest
what was involved in the trial, what
the issue was. One of the things that
happened was that the scientific
continued on page 6

Harvard Management Company president
leaves unexpectedly after two years
By Phillip Gara
Contributing Writer

On Sept. 11, Mohamed El-Erian,
president and CEO of the Harvard
Management Company, announced
that he will leave Harvard to rejoin
the Pacific Investment Management Company, citing family reasons for his decision.
After a highly successful but
short-lived two-year tenure as the
head of Harvard’s endowment, ElErian will return to PIMCO in January 2008 as managing director and
the company’s first co-CEO and coCIO, a position that has been created for him, the California-based
investment firm said in a Sept. 11
press release.
“Everybody feels that we would
have preferred that he stayed
longer, but he left HMC in great
shape,” Har vard spokesperson
John Longbrake said.
El-Erian replaced Jack Meyer at
HMC after Meyer left Harvard to
start a new hedge fund, Convexity
Capital Management, amid public
outcry over his and other managers’ compensation packages.
During his 15 years at the helm
of HMC, Meyer was responsible for
growing the endowment from $4.7
billion to $22.6 billion, and in his
departure, he took over 30 people
— mostly bond managers — with
him to Convexity Capital.
Along with Meyer’s legacy, ElErian had to replace nearly onethird of HMC’s team when he was
hired by then-Harvard President
Lawrence Summers in September
2005.
“Jack Meyer took 30-plus people
with him, and Mohamed was able
to rebuild after him and had very
strong returns,” Longbrake said.
As a managing director at PIM-

page 3

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

CO before joining HMC, El-Erian
oversaw $28 billion in bonds held
by developing nations and their
companies.
While president of HMC, ElErian diversified the university’s
portfolio, which invested heavily
in bonds under Meyer.
According to a Barrons report,
El-Erian’s strategy was to draw
upon the pool of talent already existing in Harvard’s economics and
statistics departments.
“By reaching out, we can be
smarter investors,” El-Erian said
at a June seminar organized by Harvard’s statistics department.
During his tenure at HMC, ElErian saw record-breaking success.
Harvard’s endowment grew from
Courtesy of Harvard News Office
approximately $23 billion to $34.9 Harvard Management Company President
billion, according to the university’s and CEO Mohamed El-Erian
July fiscal year reports.
In the 2007 fiscal year, HMC ing to CEO Bill Thompson, “neither
produced “its best overall perfor- (Managing Director) Bill Gross
mance in seven years” with an in- nor I at this time have any plans
vestment return of 23 percent as to step down, and in fact, have just
the endowment grew from $29.2 been elected by PIMCO’s managbillion to $34.9 billion, according ing directors for 5-year terms in our
to the Sept. 11 Harvard Gazette respective roles,” according to the
statement.
PIMCO press release.
Nevertheless, since the end of
El-Erian will continue to help
the fiscal year and the onset of the Harvard in the interim period while
credit crunch later in the summer, HMC looks for a new president.
there have been some concerns
“I plan on remaining in touch
about the recent performance of with the Harvard community, esthe endowment. In August, the en- pecially with HMC colleagues and
dowment lost $350 million when with President Faust. … I will do
Sowood Capital Management, a all I can to contribute to the best
hedge fund founded by former possible transition at HMC during
HMC manager Jeffrey Larson, these next few months,” El-Erian
collapsed.
said in the Gazette release.
No names have been officially
When El-Erian returns to
PIMCO in January he will be re- mentioned to succeed El-Erian, but
sponsible for $693 billion in assets according to Longbrake, “We’re
under management compared with launching a search immediately.”
Harvard’s $34.9 billion.
“I suspect down the road we will
He is also expected to become make an announcement about a
PIMCO’s CEO, although, accord- search committee,” he said.

Last Monday, the University of California at Berkeley received a pledge
for a $113 million gift, the largest
single gift in the school’s history,
according to a university statement.
The gift comes from the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundation and
is designed to help the public university to stay competitive with elite
private schools.
The gift comes in the form of a
challenge grant that will match other
private donations dollar-for-dollar,
resulting in $220 million once the
challenge is met, Forbes magazine
reported Sept. 10. The university
will use the money to create 100 new
endowed faculty positions backed by
permanent funds intended to keep
UC-Berkeley professors’ salaries
competitive with those at top private schools.
An additional $3 million will be
used to support an enhanced infrastructure for managing those endowed funds, Forbes reported.
The gift comes at a time when
funding for public universities from
state governments has not matched
the 20 percent per annum top private
universities have achieved on their
endowments, the university statement said.
“Private institutions are at an
advantage, having traditionally
built up large endowments,” said
UC-Berkeley Chancellor Robert
Birgeneau in the release. “With only
a third of our annual budget coming from state funds, increasing the
size of Berkeley’s endowment is the
only way to sustain a stable financial
foundation for the future.”
UC-Berkeley’s endowment is
$2.5 billion. Har vard University
has a $35 billion endowment, and

Stanford University’s is $15 billion.
Brown has a $2.8 billion endowment.
Between 2000 and 2006, 236 UCBerkeley professors received job
offers from other universities, most
of them elite private schools. The
school was able to keep 162 professors, but only through cost-cutting
efforts that could not be sustained
in the long-term, Birgeneau said.
Despite Berkeley’s efforts, 30
percent of the faculty members who
received offers left the university.
The funding will be distributed
across the institution and, once
matched, will make up a nearly 50
percent increase in UC-Berkeley’s
current $468 million in endowed
faculty chair funding. Following the
gift, each endowed professorship
will be funded at $2 million, and professors will receive $25,000 per year
in a scholarly allowance from the
income, according to remarks by
the chancellor. The university currently has 351 endowed chairs.
“This gift ... is a recognition that
public universities can and must
compete with the best private universities and can only do so through
a partnership between public funding and private philanthropy,” Birgeneau said.
Walter Hewlett, chairman of the
board of the Hewlett Foundation,
agreed in his address at the unveiling ceremony.
“Berkeley is the crown jewel
of public higher education — not
just in California, but in the countr y,” Hewlett said. “UC-Berkeley
is a special case in that we are not
only supporting great work, we are
supporting an important social concept — the importance of public
education and universal access for
our best and brightest students, irrespective of their ability to pay.”

Illinois State University’s introduction of a file-transfer tracking system,
known as the Digital Citizen Project,
is the latest step in the struggle of
entertainment industry groups and
colleges to stem the flow of illegal
downloading on campuses. The initiative was undertaken amid debate
over the increasingly thorny question
of how much responsibility colleges
and universities have to stem illegal
downloading.
The Digital Citizen Project is a
program designed to “research, discover, and establish best practices
for shifting consumption of media
on university campuses from pirated
content to legitimately licensed content,” according to the project’s Web
site. The project employs a variety
of tactics to try to curb illegal downloading, including educating students
through an awareness campaign, increasing university self-monitoring
and enforcement, providing free and
legal music services and rewarding
students who don’t download illegally.
The project was launched in
response to a “sharp uptick in the
number of violation notices that (Illinois State) got from the Recording
Industry Association of America,”
said Mark Walbert, Illinois State’s
associate vice president for academic
information technology.

Cheryl Elzy, the dean of university
libraries, conceived the project as
a way to gather data about student
downloading. The real turning point
for the decision to go forward with
the project, Walbert said, occurred
when four Illinois State students were
subpoenaed. “That really galvanized
our attention on the issue,” he said.
In late 2006, Illinois State officials
approached the entertainment industry with their offer of cooperation.
“When we went to Washington and
asked (the RIAA) what we could do,
they literally — literally — sat at the
table and said nothing. ... And later
on, as there got to be more talking,
they realized, ‘Nobody’s ever asked
us that before,’ ” Walbert said. Ultimately, the university received funding for the project from the music
industry.
The findings of the Digital Citizen
Project — though incomplete — have
served to “get enough data to put
numbers behind what we just had

as ideas before,” Walbert said. The
project discovered that a “startling”
60,000 “original transfers” occurred
in April at Illinois State, according to
an article in the Chronicle of Higher
Education.
One finding that Walbert described as a “surprise” was that the
majority of the file transfers did not
carry signatures or meta-data that
could mark them as indisputably illegal. “We have discovered that there’s
a great deal of material that’s being
shared that we have no idea what
it is,” Walbert said. “The industry
needs to find a way to watermark
these songs so those transfers can
be tagged.”
Walbert said university officials
will conduct a more detailed analysis
of the data this summer.
The project was not a simple
clampdown on illegal downloading
or an end of peer-to-peer software,
Walbert said. “I really hope what it
does is broaden the conversation

away from just saying, ‘find a technology solution that just kills it.’ We
can block peer-to-peer transfers in
different ways — and Illinois State
has for years — but there are a lot of
legitimate uses, and those are growing. So we find that tool to be a little
too blunt.”
Walbert said another problem
is that the market is always slow to
adapt to technology changes, and the
music industry is no exception. “I
would like them, too, to spend more
time on how to educate students

about what the issues are, really,”
he said.
“My big thing has always been
the underlying behavioral issue is
what matters. ... We need to do a lot
better job of educating students and
others that, actually, you are stealing
from people and that’s something you
should be aware of.”
Connie Sadler, director of information technology security at Brown’s
Computing and Information Services,
continued on page 9

Page 4

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

After uncertainty, EMS on track
continued from page 1
head of EMS, Sanderson-Roderick
said she plans to oversee several
changes this semester, including better coordination with the Department
of Public Safety and other University
offices.
Wheeler said Sanderson-Roderick
will “tighten up the ship a bit” by updating logs and personnel files more
frequently and keeping more complete records.
Sanderson-Roderick and Wheeler
both stressed that they want EMS to
be seen as more of an educational
program.
“We want to recommit to a few
principles that are important to
EMS,” Wheeler said. “It was started
by students, and students contribute
a huge amount to the functioning of
EMS, so we are trying to reestablish
our commitment to them in terms of
teaching.”
The program has long hosted

monthly seminars on topics ranging
from clearing airways to emergency
gynecology and obstetrics, but EMT
supervisors will now also have a
master list of topics to teach student
EMTs during their shifts, SandersonRoderick said.
“There is now an expectation that
there will be teaching on every shift,”
Sanderson-Roderick said.
Jeffrey Devine, a trained paramedic and registered nurse who is one of
the two new EMT supervisors, will
coordinate the program’s educational
efforts, Sanderson-Roderick said.
The other new supervisor, Brendan
McStay, will take responsibility for
keeping equipment up-to-date and
operational.
“(Devine) has a number of years
of EMT experience, working as a
paramedic in Boston … and training
to be a registered nurse,” Sanderson-Roderick said, adding that his
commitment and excitement level
about teaching is in line with EMS’s

emphasis on education.
Student EMTs interviewed by The
Herald had only positive things to say
about the upcoming year at EMS.
EMS will “focus on education
(and) getting involved with the community,” said Alex Neusner ’08, a
senior EMT who has been involved
in the program since his freshmen
year.
Neusner had strong praise for
Sanderson-Roderick, who he said
“really cares about the student and is
really compassionate … and is trying
really hard.” There is rarely a night
that she is not working, he said.
Though he was abroad for EMS’s
tumultuous spring semester, Neusner
said this semester will be a positive
step forward, if not a “rebuilding
year.”
“I am really excited for this semester. It will be different … but we hope
to maintain a high quality of services
while trying some new things,” he
said.

M. soccer continues unbeaten streak
continued from page 12
five touches — really, two headers
and three tap-ins. The guys put me in
the right position to score.”
Almost more impressive than Sheehan’s offense was his defense. He was
constantly in pursuit, pressuring the
Terriers defenders and causing them
to make poor passes that his teammates were able to intercept.
“That’s part of Dylan’s package,”
Noonan said of Sheehan’s defense.
“Kevin Davies (’08) up front has
complemented that part of his game.
Together they put a lot of pressure on
the other team.”
The entire team’s defense was
strong, holding St. Francis’ leading
scorer, John Salhag, who has four
goals on the season, in check for the
night.
Noonan was particularly pleased
with the play of goalkeeper Paul

Grandstrand ’11.
“It was very positive to get Paul
Grandstrand his first shutout,” Noonan said. “It was also good to go two
straight games without being scored
upon.”
Grandstrand has been splitting
time in the net with Jarrett Leech ’09
this season, and both have played well.
Grandstrand had one problem early in
the first half, when he was indecisive
about whether to come out to meet
Salhag on a breakaway. But Grandstrand recovered by fouling Salhag
outside the 18-yard box, giving the
Bears’ defense a chance to recover.
The strong backline allowed Brown
to maintain the 1-0 halftime lead. The
second half was much of the same
early on: Brown in control but still
unable to finish its chances. Noonan
said the team played its best during
the middle 30 minutes of the second
half, though the team was unable to

increase its lead.
Desperate in the last 15 minutes,
St. Francis turned up the heat, pushing numbers forward. The Terriers
controlled the match down the stretch,
but were unable to penetrate Bruno’s
defense to get the equalizer.
“We panicked a little bit late in the
game,” Noonan said. “We got a little
tight.”
The Bears bent, but did not break,
and held on for the 1-0 win to maintain
their undefeated start.
Brown, which is ranked 21st by
the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and ninth by Soccer
America’s Top 25 poll, will travel away
from Stevenson Field for the first time
this season for their next game, making a cross-country trek to California
this weekend, where it will take on
the University of San Diego on Friday
night and the University of California
at Irvine on Sunday.

c ampus n ews
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

Ne

ws

i n

page 5

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Br

i e f

Library catalog gets makeover
The University library’s online catalog, Josiah, will be upgraded over
the course of the year to increase its user friendliness.
Additions to the catalog system will include new calendar functions, a spell checker and integrated search features. Students using
Josiah will be able to search for videos, browse new books, check past
inquiries and look at their reading history.
Simplification is a major goal of the renovations and additions to
Josiah, said Brent Lang ’04, communications and marketing specialist
for the library. Students are “going to see more of Josiah as the goto place,” Lang said, citing easier interlibrary loan processes as one
positive result of the upgrades.
A new method for searching the library database is also in the works.
Librarians said they look forward to search pages that emulate search
engines like Google, to which more students are accustomed.
“We are going to consolidate searches onto a single screen,” Lang
said.
“These are ideas that libraries have been talking about for a few
years,” said Bonnie Buzzell ’72, senior knowledge systems librarian.
“We are not behind, but we certainly are not ahead.”
Buzzell anticipates that features such as a viewable reading history
will help students with bibliographies. Students would be able to sign
in to view their search history, and they could sign out or clear the
history at any time, she said.
Librarians are considering additional upgrades, including book
jacket image displays accompanied by links to reviews and a feature
that would enable students to narrow a general search into categories,
as they can on Amazon.com.
“What’s happening in the field is spurring us to improve our own
services,” Lang said, adding that some of the ideas came from undergraduates themselves in focus groups held last year.
“There is no additional cost” to implement the upgrades, Buzzell
said. “It is mostly staff time.”
Buzzell encouraged students to contact the library with feedback,
comments and suggestions as the upgrades are implemented.
— Aditya Voleti

Five Brown researchers win fellowships
Four faculty members and one graduate student have won fellowships
from the American Council of Learned Societies.
Among this year’s recipients are Professor of Modern Culture and
Media Mary Doane, Associate Professor of Anthropology Matthew
Gutmann, Professor of Religious Studies Susan Ashbrook Harvey, Associate Professor of History Robert Self and Daniel Schensul MA’04 GS,
a doctoral candidate in sociology.
The ACLS is a nonprofit organization that encourages advancement in the humanities and social sciences and supports institutions
dedicated to those subjects. This support is given primarily through its
many fellowship programs.
Self was one of 11 scholars awarded the Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellowship for Recently Tenured Scholars for his project “The Politics
of Gender and Sexuality in the United States from Watts to Reagan.” His
studies will investigate questions of manhood and masculinity, second
wave feminism, the politics of public and private and other issues of
gender and sexuality from the past few decades and their effect on
politics, Self told The Herald.
To supplement Self’s nationwide archival research, the fellowship
grants him access to the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at
Harvard University to research and write his book on the subject. This
will be Self’s second book — his first, “American Babylon: Race and
the Struggle for Postwar Oakland,” published in 2005, is a case study
of urban politics in Oakland, Calif.
Schensul was awarded the Early Career Fellowship Program Dissertation Completion Fellowship, to be funded by the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation, for his project “Remaking an Apartheid City: State-Led Spatial
Transformation in Durban, South Africa.” Schensul used spatial analysis,
Geographical Information Systems and qualitative fieldwork to map cities’
social and geographical data and investigate the effects of infrastructure
expansion on economic and racial inequalities in South Africa.
Awarded to 65 scholars out of a total of 1,144 applicants, this fellowship sponsors doctoral candidates’ research expenses for one year
under the agreement that the recipients will receive no further funding
afterward. This gives the candidates a “hard deadline” to finish their
dissertations promptly, said Schensul, who is now in the process of
writing his dissertation and applying for jobs.
Doane, Gutmann and Harvey are three of 65 applicants out of a total
of 1,016 to win the ACLS Fellowship. Doane’s project, “ ‘Bigger Than
Life’: The Close-up and Scale in the Cinema,” investigates how these
techniques affect the relationship between the human body and space
in modern cinema. Funding from the fellowship and Brown is allowing
Doane to take leave this semester to research and work on her project,
which will culminate in a book on the subject.
In his project, “Iraq Veterans in Dissent, Masculine Loyalties in Contention: Epiphanies among the Troops,” Gutmann investigates how the Iraq
war affects troops stationed there. Gutmann’s project focuses on oral
histories from those who joined the army voluntarily, later becoming
dissenters of the Iraq war.
Harvey’s project, “Teaching Women: Biblical Women and Women’s
Choirs in Syriac Tradition,” examines the place and significance of
women’s voice in Syriac Christianity through Christian teachings, rituals
and biblical representation.
Doane, Gutmann and Harvey were not available for comment.
—Allison Wentz

Brown students, faculty and visitors
may have noticed the proliferation
of “Building Brown” signs outside
various construction sites on campus
in the last few months.
The signs are “Facilities Management’s efforts to coordinate those
projects, which did not happen before in past years,” said Michael McCormick, assistant vice president for
planning, design and construction
for Facilities Management. With six
projects in progress out of a total of
nine proposed construction sites displayed on the Building Brown Web
site, such coordination is necessary,
McCormick said.
“This is a completely new effort,”
McCormick said. “We are doing
so many construction projects at
once — typically we did one, maybe
two projects at a single time in the

past.”
For McCormick, the effort of
conducting multiple projects simultaneously is part of a bigger initiative
to improve the appearance of the
campus.
McCormick was unable to provide any estimate as to how much
it will cost to maintain the signs. He
stressed that the phrase “Building
Brown” is “not an official slogan”
for the construction projects themselves — rather, it refers to the page
of the same name on the Facilities
Management Web site.
Among the nine construction
projects listed on the site are the
Artemis A.W. and Martha Sharp Joukowsky Institute for Archeology and
the Ancient World, the Walk connecting the Main Green and Pembroke
campus, the conversion of J. Walter
Wilson, renovations of Pembroke
Hall and the Stephen Roberts ’62
Campus Center at Faunce House.

Other construction projects include
the Creative Arts Center, the renewal and upgrade of utility systems,
the relocation of Peter Green House
and the Nelson Fitness Center and
University Swim Center.
The construction initiatives are
part of President Ruth Simmons’
Plan for Academic Enrichment,
which was initially proposed in
February 2002.
The signs are highly visible on
campus, ensuring public awareness
of the University’s new construction
initiatives.
“It seems interesting that they
cover up what is being constructed,”
said Lawrence Stanley, senior lecturer in English.
“(The signs) do catch your attention when walking to class — it
causes you to notice what’s happening in terms of the campus’ constant
renovation,” said Francis Gonzales
’11.

Page 6

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Popular bio prof Miller ’70 on intelligent design, life in the spotlight
continued from page 1
case — if there ever was one — for
this thing called “intelligent design”
just collapsed, literally fell apart. It
also became clear that intelligent
design is just a re-labeling of what
used to be called “creationism” or
“creation science.” That was pretty
easy to show, because the textbook
on intelligent design that the school
board had purchased for the students had actually been produced by
a publisher that took a textbook on
creationism, and wherever the word
“creator” or “creationism” appeared,
they just pasted the word “design”
or “designer” on top of it.
In your book, “Finding Darwin’s God,” you put forth the
idea that science and religion
are compatible and even complementar y. How so?
Let’s ask a question that people
in science don’t generally ask: “Why

does science work? Why can we figure anything out?” Einstein once
said the most incomprehensible
thing about the universe is that it
is comprehensible. It’s a typical
Einsteinian statement in that it has
many layers of meaning, but why
should the universe be organized in
a regular way that enables us to do
science and allows us to make sense
of it? I think one way to look at and
understand that is to say that the
universe behaves in what we might
call a rational way because there
is reason behind it. And if you’re a
believer, if you’re a theist, the source
of that reason ultimately is the creator — it’s God. God is the ultimate
explanation for why reality is the
way it is, and what makes science
possible.
The other thing is there has been
a long tradition of scientific inquiry
within the Abrahamic religions —
Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The
notion in all of these religions is that

we were given free will and intelligence to do God’s will, but also to
use that intelligence to understand
the world around us. In the 13th and
14th centuries, the greatest scientific
nations in the world were the states
of the Muslim Caliphate in Northern
Africa. These are the guys who were
inventing algebra, figuring out the
biochemistry of fermentation — the
word “alcohol” is an Arabic word —
and drawing the best astronomical
charts in the world. They saw all
of this as fitting within a religious
context.
How, then, have you arrived
at Catholicism, with its specific
traditions and beliefs?
The short answer is that I was
brought up and raised a Catholic,
so I understand Catholicism.
That doesn’t mean I’ve considered myself that way for my whole
life. There were a couple times in
my life where I just sort of walked
away from the Church. But what I
find within my particular sect of Roman Catholicism is a respect for the
intellectual traditions of science.
What I often have a difficult
time explaining to people is why
I’m a Catholic and not a Baptist or
a Unitarian or a Jew. The first thing I
would say is that there is absolutely
nothing in science that points me to
being a Catholic, or even a Christian.
But what I will say is I think that all
people who profess a religious faith
have first of all the duty to be modest
about their own understanding. Any
person who is religious and has really thought seriously about the idea
of God has got to be overwhelmed
by its incomprehensibility. And if
you’re overwhelmed by the incom-

prehensibility of something, then I
think you automatically respect the
efforts of other people to grasp the
same thing, even if they come down
with slightly different conclusions.
I practice the faith I do because it
makes intellectual and emotional
sense to me and because it helps
me to order my life and understand
the world.
How do you achieve a balance
between your national work and
what you do at Brown? Do you
envision yourself taking a break
from one to focus more on the
other?
I’ve always been interested in
research and teaching. A few years
ago, when I started to write textbooks, I began to think of that as
an alternate kind of teaching. What
I mean by that is when I teach my
cell biology class, I might reach 50
students, when I teach the intro bio
class I might reach 400 students,
but when I write a high school textbook I can — without exaggeration
— reach millions of students. So I
regard all of this as kind of the same
activity.
Travelling, speaking and even
doing strange things like appearing on television do take time away
from other professional activities.
You have to ask yourself, “Do these
things do any good for the scientific
enterprise as a whole?” I think the
answer to that is really simple: If
those of us in the scientific community decide we aren’t going to
venture into the public square and
make ourselves available for public
talks and interviews and going on
TV shows, saying that all that is beneath us, that vacuum in the public

square will be filled by people whom
most of us regard as the enemies of
science. I think everybody in the scientific community has an obligation
to bring science to that public square
and to make their work understandable to the general public. And I’ve
received a tremendous amount
of support from my scientific colleagues here at Brown and in the
rest of the scientific community for
doing exactly what I’m doing.
What projects are you working
on right now?
I’m on sabbatical leave this year,
so I’m not teaching. If my leave is
successful, by a year from now I will
have finished three books. When I
come back, I’ll go back into my lab
and do some research on plant cell
walls and plant cell membranes.
As if college students weren’t
enamored of you enough, you
appeared on Comedy Central’s
“The Colbert Report” last year.
How has the “Colbert bump”
been for you?
I don’t know if this is a sad commentary on the state of American
higher education, but nothing I’ve
ever done in my whole scientific career has gained me as much credibility among my students as appearing
on “The Colbert Report.” There’s
no question that one of the reasons
I’ve literally been flooded with lecture and seminar invitations all over
the country is because people have
seen the segment or heard about it
and thought, “Here’s somebody who
can go nose-to-nose with Stephen
Colbert.”
My phone hasn’t stopped ringing.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

Salazar ’09
starts kids’
magazine
continued from page 1
be able to take on the challenge,
despite her youth. “What I’ve observed with Gabby is that she’s
able to take on the responsibilities
of many projects with very little
experience,” he said. “She has a
passion for whatever she’s doing
and the intelligence to be able to
implement that passion.”
Salazar has applied her passion for photography since age
12, thanks to her father’s eagerness to share his favorite hobby.
Within minutes of picking up a
camera, Salazar said, she was
hooked.
“She really took to it like a fish
to water,” said her father, Paul
Salazar.
After discovering her talent
in photography, Salazar began
entering contests, applying for
scholarships and submitting her
work to various magazines. Her
photographs have appeared in
such publications as Wildlife in
North Carolina and Chinese National Geographic for Kids.
Salazar also began holding
photography workshops at which
she taught young children the
basics of the camera. Salazar said
working with children inspired
her to create a magazine showcasing their work.
“It’s amazing how kids light up
when they engage in nature and
in the environment, when they
have a camera in their hands,”
she said.
One of the main points Salazar
stresses to the children is that a
photographer doesn’t need to be
a globetrotter to shoot impressive
pictures.
“I wasn’t one of those kids that
could just travel whenever they
wanted,” she said. “I want them
to see you can take these pictures
in your backyard. I want this to be
accessible to all levels of income,
to all backgrounds.”
With an interactive Web site,
an editorial staff with no one
over the age of 23 and content
produced exclusively by young
adults, NBPK provides a new and
innovative resource for young
photographers, according to
Salazar.
Salazar is eager to keep the
magazine fresh, catering to the
younger set. Though she plans
to take next semester off to work
on the magazine, she says she
won’t stay on the staff for more
than three years.
“I don’t want to get too old
to represent the magazine,” she
said.
In the meantime, Salazar’s
co-workers say her energy has
helped make the magazine a
success.
“She’s definitely the driving
force of this magazine right now,”
said Chase Pickering, director
of marketing and promotions
at NBPK. “She’s doing this in a
way that’s successful because she
builds these personal connections
with people around the world.”
Salazar admits she has, in fact,
memorized the names and ages of
all the contributors of the current
issue. She said she enjoys promoting the art of others but does
not plan to print any of her own
photographs in the magazine.
“The real story isn’t about
me,” she said. “It’s about the
kids.”

page 7

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

An ode to baseball
continued from page 12
attending a party where I know
everyone there and where they all
give me high fives. And that feeling you get as you walk through
the tunnel to your seats and see
the stadium grass peeking above
the concrete ... it’s pretty special.
Then there’s the game itself.
What makes it so riveting? Baseball is a thinking fan’s game. I like
that after each pitch, I’ve got about
10 seconds to talk about the pitch,
the game or baseball in general.
It’s fun to watch because it doesn’t
require focus 100 percent of the
time. You can casually watch a
game and not miss anything crucial. However, if you want to watch
the game and analyze every pitch,
you’ll be entranced by the amount
of strategy and athleticism that
goes into every second of a baseball game. If you’ve never done
this — really studied a few minutes
of a baseball game, as if it were a
Hitchcock film — give it a shot.
Listen to the color commentary,
guess what the hitter is trying to
do and understand that baseball is
just “a lot of standing around” in

the same way that a Monet painting is “just” a bunch of lilies floating in a pond.
Baseball distinguishes itself
from other sports through its
complexity. In basketball, there’s
always one purpose: Put the ball
in the hoop, or stop the other team
from doing so. In hockey, it’s the
same thing … on ice. The different
strategies and methods of winning
a baseball game give managers a
broad and exciting set of options.
Let’s say the offense has a runner
on first. What do they do? Bunt him
over? Steal? Hit-and-run? Try to
force a walk? Hope for a base hit?
The excitement often lies in those
frequent pauses, as the pitcher
stares down the batter. Baseball
always keeps you guessing.
As Woody Allen once said, “I
love baseball. You know it doesn’t
have to mean anything, it’s just
beautiful to watch.” Baseball is
my childhood, my hobby and my
love. I hope you can learn to love
it, too.

Ellis Rochelson ’09 also loves his
family.

5 first-years elected to UCS
By Franklin Kanin
Senior Staf f Writer

Anxious freshmen gathered in
front of the Faunce House steps
at midnight Tuesday night to find
out who would gain one of the five
open spots to represent the class of
2011 on the Undergraduate Council
of Students. The Elections Board
and UCS President Michael Glassman ’09 stood atop the steps and
announced whom among the 17
candidates were elected, which began on MyCourses on Sunday night
and ended Tuesday at 5 p.m.
The new UCS members for
2011 are, in the order they were announced, Alex Morse ’11, Ryan Lester ’11, Stacey Park ’11, Harris Li ’11

and Arthur Matuszweski ’11.
Glassman, before announcing
the winners, encouraged the 12
other UCS hopefuls to nevertheless ser ve on UCS as associate
members. To become an associate member a student must collect
50 signatures and attend two UCS
meetings. Associate members can
attend all meetings and sit on committees, but cannot vote.
While the official numbers and
results will not be announced until
UCS certifies the results, UCS Student Activities Chair and Elections
board co-chair Drew Madden ‘10
said over 400 freshmen voted in
the election.
UCS’s first general body meeting
of the year will be held tonight.

Page 8

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2007

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

page 9

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

“Street Sights” newspaper highlights homelessness in RI
continued from page 1
newsletter to raise awareness about
Welcome Arnold’s closing, according to Ochs.
The closing threw three women
and 100 men out on the street, said
Bob Pangborn, a formerly homeless individual who joined the Street
Sights staff after landing back on
his feet.
To Street Sights organizers,
“what was most difficult about the
closing was not the closing itself
but the fact that the people living
there at the time were not informed
on how their lives were about to
change,” Ochs said. “There was a
great sense of insecurity, and a lot
of that insecurity came from a lack
of communication.”
The newspaper also seeks to
inform the general public about
what it means to be homeless, said
organizer Dan Meltzer ’09.
“There’s a common stereotype of
what a homeless person is,” Meltzer
said. “But it’s important to realize
that there are a lot of complex reasons for why homelessness is an
issue in Providence.”

High housing prices are currently a major cause of homelessness in Rhode Island, Pangborn
said. According to Crossroads
Rhode Island, a homeless services
organization, housing costs have
increased twice as fast as income
in the past few years.
“Informing people on the issue
is just one aspect of the newsletter,
but it’s an important one,” Meltzer
said.
Most street newspapers employ
homeless individuals, giving them
the opportunity to purchase the papers at approximately 50 percent
of the cover price, sell them to the
public and then keep the profits, according to the International Network
of Street Papers’ Web site.
In one of its earlier versions,
Street Sights used this vendor
model, but had to discontinue the
approach because of Providence’s
lack of street traffic.
“The vendors were not making
a lot of money,” Ochs said.
Street Sights founder Claudia
Solari ’99.5 would like to see the
newspaper transition toward the
vendor model.

“The vendor effort is such an
important component because it’s
where people who are homeless
interact with people who are not,”
Solari said. “This is a good way to
help them reconnect with the rest
of society.”
Solari began developing the paper in the fall of 1999. She was initially inspired by Spare Change, one
of Boston’s street newspapers, which
she learned about while conducting
research on street newspapers during her senior year.
“The model had worked so
beautifully in Boston,” Solari said.
“I thought, ‘Why not try it in Providence?’ ”
Solari wanted volunteers to help
put together the street paper, and
she estimated that more than 70
Brown students showed up at the
first meeting. Those volunteers visited homeless organizations in Providence, gathering writing samples
from homeless individuals. Solari
used a $500 writing grant to print
the first issue.
Meanwhile, the People to End
Homelessness group was leading an
effort to demand more emergency

Digital Citizen Project tracks downloading
continued from page 3
agreed with Walbert. “One of my concerns is that I still hear from students
who seem surprised when there’s
a complaint that comes in alleging
illegal downloading,” she told The
Herald. “I would like to know what
we can do to better educate students,
particularly around the risk associated with running peer-to-peer applications.”
Brown has received 12 to 15 notices from the RIAA so far this semester — a normal number of notices
— and has no plans to introduce antipiracy technology. When a student
is the subject of RIAA complaints,
University officials activate a process
of warnings and dean’s hearings, Sadler said.
“I don’t think that Brown is really
planning on changing its policy any
time soon,” Sadler said.

Sadler explained that the Internet
at Brown is run essentially as two
networks. “We manage the Brown
campus network, which is reserved
for academic applications, and we
manage what we call the residential
network, and that’s the network that
the students are attached to... We really reserve most of our bandwidth
for applications that are required for
academic work.”
“We see ourselves more as an
Internet provider for the residential
network. We don’t see ourselves as
monitoring what goes on in and out
of that network,” Sadler said.
Student attitudes regarding illegal downloading and preventative
or punitive measures taken by the
University and the entertainment
industry vary.
A sophomore, who requested anonymity, admitted to downloading content illegally. “It’s strange how little

I feel guilty about actually stealing
music, because I have thousands of
dollars worth of it,” the student told
The Herald.
The sophomore said she had once
received notification from the University informing her that a movie studio
had contacted Brown officials after
she attempted to download a recently
released movie.
“The e-mail said (the University)
was planning to suspend my Internet
account until I said I would never do
it again, but I don’t think they ever
did, so I’m not sure what the point of
it was,” she said.
The student said she thought it
was the responsibility of the entertainment industry, not the University,
to monitor and take action against illegal downloading. She added that the
only thing that would convince her to
stop downloading illegally would be if
she were actually prosecuted.

housing from the city, and Solari
saw an opportunity to distribute the
newsletter for free to politicians and
others surrounding the statehouse.
“We didn’t charge for the paper at
the time. Our goal was simply to get
our name out there.”
Solari printed her last issue in
July 2000, as she left Providence to
attend graduate school on the West
Coast. Despite student efforts to
keep Street Sights in circulation,
high leadership turnover prevented
the newspaper from sustaining itself
in recent years.
Since its first revived issue in
March, Street Sights has been distributed monthly to a circulation
of about 600, Ochs said. To attract
more readers, the group is transitioning from its current newsletter
style to newsprint.
Each of the previous issues has
been funded by donations from
different organizations — most recently, the Rhode Island Coalition
for the Homeless — but the group
is establishing a subscription system
to ensure the newspaper’s sustainability, Ochs said.
“We hope that Street Sights will

become more like the other street
newspapers around the country —
with more readers and a wider range
of readership,” Meltzer said.
To work toward this goal, Ochs
attended the North American Street
Newspaper Association’s conference
in Portland, Ore., beween July 26
and July 29.
The conference was hosted by
Street Roots, a nonprofit, grassroots
newspaper based in Portland that
seeks to create employment opportunities for homeless individuals.
The conference served as a forum
for vendors, editors and directors to
share technical skills and collaborate
on various homelessness issues, according to Street Roots’ Web site.
For Street Sights organizers who
attended the conference, the event
served both as a networking tool
and a space for street newspapers
around the country to get together
and motivate one another.
“It was inspiring to us to recognize we are part of the larger movement of people trying to change the
lives of individuals who are having
to deal with homelessness,” Ochs
said.

E ditorial & L etters
Page 10

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Staf f Editorial

Stemming the problem
Yesterday’s report on undergraduate science education offers some
promising suggestions for curricular improvement, but the reality
of the problem in some science fields at Brown is bleak. Over half of
the potential physics concentrators in PHYS 0070: “Analytical Mechanics” and PHYS 0080: “Introduction to Relativity and Quantum
Physics” are so unhappy with those courses that they never take a
physics class again.
One of the repor t’s most ambitious recommendations is a centralized sciences resources center. Such a dedicated campus office
would be a valuable resource for students, particularly underclassmen
who have yet to declare their concentrations or find research labs.
All of its proposed ser vices, such as tutoring and dispensing advice
about concentrations, research oppor tunities and careers, already
exist but are scattered around campus. But students in the so-called
STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — would
be well-ser ved by a dedicated campus center that centralizes these
ser vices.
Not all of the report’s recommendations seem as useful. The committee calls for an expansion of interdisciplinar y offerings, an institutional buzzword that is central to Brown’s educational philosophy
but difficult to apply to the sciences. Though special interdisciplinar y
science courses might attract some students who would other wise
hide behind the New Curriculum’s flexibility and avoid taking a
single science course while at Brown, they won’t be of tremendous
benefit to prospective science concentrators, who need to grasp the
fundamentals of a scientific discipline before deciding whether the
subject is a good fit.
Still, more must to be done to address the introductor y lecture
courses that seem to scare students away.
As the report makes clear, retention of STEM concentrators depends largely on their experiences in introductor y-level courses. Many
foundation courses could be significantly improved with more hands-on
experiences, better labs and intelligible teaching assistants.
If University officials hope to attract and retain more STEM students, they should focus on improving the introductor y course experience. As a result of poorly taught foundation courses, STEM
concentrators and non-concentrators alike are emerging with a lack
of preparation for research, a shaky understanding of the material
and a general dissatisfaction with the sciences at Brown.
The committee’s report accurately acknowledges the importance
of research in science education, and the proposed increase in UTRA
funding is a significant step in the right direction. Research opportunities are meaningful for many STEM students, and they offer valuable hands-on experience, applied learning and faculty and graduate
student mentors.
Students in the STEM fields value the opportunity to study science in the context of Brown’s distinctive open curriculum, but they
also deser ve to be of fered a science education that is of the same
— if not higher — caliber as those offered at the University’s peer
institutions.

Herald headline misrepresented state of biological sciences
To the Editor:
As associate dean of biology undergraduate education
overseeing students in 10 programs offered at Brown, I
object strongly to the headline in the Sept. 18 Herald that
announced “Sciences losing concentrators at high rate.”
The article goes on to describe trends in the physical,
not the biological sciences, wherein we are experiencing
tremendous growth and popularity.
Recently, we published and distributed the Annual
Report for Biology Undergraduate Affairs, which details trends going back to the 1980s. Several surges in
enrollments have occurred since then, with only moderate corrections in an upward trend. Particularly in
the past three years, this trend is one of demonstrable
growth. For example, in 2003-2004, the total of biological sciences concentrators represented 13.4 percent of
University graduates; in 2006-2007, this percentage was
18.7 percent.
The total number graduating in our programs last May
was 287 and is projected to be 327 in 2008. This latter
figure exceeds the previous peak of 297 that occurred in
1998. The trend is of a steady increase of students, scant
attrition and, periodically, dramatic upward surges.
As for courses, enrollments in courses taught by biomed faculty grew from 10.8 percent of total University
undergraduate enrollments to 13.1 percent over the past
academic year. Previous figures (since 2000) hovered in

the 9.6-10.2 percent range.
There are many figures that can be cited here, but
the trends apply to all of the ten programs offered in the
division, including biology, human biology (which has
doubled over the past two years) and neuroscience, with
biochemistry/molecular biology, computational biology,
biomedical engineering, applied math-biology and biophysics also showing solid and/or increased concentrator
figures. It cannot be denied that these groups include
programs with strong foundations and themes in the
physical sciences and mathematics.
I do not counter the trends described in The Herald.
I only object to the absence of acknowledgement of the
true situation in our area when such sweeping pieces are
written and displayed. (Another point: our introductory
courses are some of the most popular at the University,
by both reviews and by the enrollments. Examples:
NAUR 0010: “Introduction to Neuroscience” and BIOL
0200: “Foundation of Living Systems.”)
While I applaud efforts to bolster resources, research
fellowships, tutoring programs and so forth, it cannot
be good for the University or outside community to
draw perhaps erroneous conclusions from misleading
headlines and sweeping statements.

Your Sept. 18 editorial (“Parking at the Point”) about
parking and planning was brought to my attention, and
I’m writing to express my surprise and gratification with
the writer’s attitude toward our neighborhood. I can’t
remember when I’ve read such a considerate, even,
thoughtful and mature piece in The Herald. It looks as

though this will be a good year for town-gown relations. I
salute your taking this step towards cooperative dialogue
with us other residents of the East Side.

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O pinions
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

page 11

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

Who is ‘Our Man’ in Iraq?
BORIS RYVKIN
Opinions Columnist
On Aug. 28, in the city of Karbala, factional
violence between the two largest Shiite militias in Iraq — those led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim and Muqtada al-Sadr — claimed 52 lives
and injured more than 200. At first glance,
this looks like the same old story of Iraqi
tribal conflict, which should not distract
from morning coffee. A closer observation,
however, reveals something much more significant. In fact, the outcome of this intraShiite feud and its consequences for political developments in Baghdad expose major
inconsistencies in official U.S. policy regarding Iraq’s future. If the Bush administration
and Congressional leaders are serious about
containing Iranian influence in Iraq, they
may be backing the wrong horse.
After the fighting, where most of the casualties came from his allies, Sadr declared a
six-month truce with American forces. What
motivated Sadr, whose popularity stems as
much from his family pedigree as from his
anti-American record, to make such a move?
U.S. officials have persistently labeled him a
firebrand radical, whose fighters and attacks
on Iraq’s Sunnis pose a major obstacle to stability and national reconciliation. Sadr, who
denied having sparked the fighting in Karbala, argued that he needed time to root out
rogue elements in his militia. In an article for
the Asia Times, columnist Sami Moubayed
suggests another reason: political reorientation. It turns out that Sadr’s chief rival, Ha-

kim’s Badr Organization, is closely tied to
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Once,
while searching for support in his drive to
consolidate power, Maliki backed Sadr. Now
safely in Baghdad, Maliki views the cleric as
a liability. More importantly and central to
the entire story, Maliki has greatly expanded his links with Iran, something which Sadr
opposes almost as much as the American
presence. It is possible, according to Mou-

Iraq. Despite the criticism, an alternative to
Maliki has not been rigorously sought and
administration officials continue to give him
public support. This reveals a serious contradiction in U.S. policy. According to the
Baghdad correspondent for the Inter Press
Service, Ali Al-Fadhily, Maliki’s failures at
forging unity largely stem from his intimacy
with Iran. Maliki supports Iran’s nuclear pursuits for “peaceful purposes,” and in a meet-

If the administration and
Congressional leaders are serious
about containing Iranian influence
in Iraq, they may be backing the
wrong horse.
bayed, that Sadr chose the lesser of two immediate evils in disengaging from the Americans.
Why does any of this matter? The Bush
administration, U.S. military commanders
and many American pundits have repeatedly
done two things in recent months: chastise
Maliki for “not doing enough” to bring about
national unity and underscore the need to
prevent Iran from gaining too much clout in

ing with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
on Aug. 8, he asked Tehran for “real security cooperation,” according to the Guardian. The result has been a political walkout
by several Sunni and Shiite factions. It is a
stretch to call Maliki an Iranian agent, but
there is little doubt that he envisions a far
greater role for Tehran in Iraq than many in
Washington would care for. In a spectacular
twist, the man most keen on expanding Ira-

nian influence in Iraq is the same one Bush
continues to embrace.
Meanwhile Sadr, the U.S.-declared “radical,” is interested in a significantly smaller
role for Iran. Sadr’s spiritual ties — and the
Iranian support for his father’s numerous activities against Saddam Hussein — mean that
he is not an enemy of his eastern neighbor.
Nevertheless, his military and political activities, bolstered by his decision to temporarily join the United Iraqi Alliance in 2005 and
oppose Maliki’s foreign policy, created the
image of an Iraqi nationalist. Sadr opted for a
cease-fire with U.S. forces in the past, during
a conflict over the city of Najaf three years
ago and reneged on his promises when political circumstances changed. There is no reason to regard his current six-month pledge
as anything but a temporary respite, and we
are not at the point of shifting our support
to him and away from the government in
Baghdad. This may show, however, that the
United States should rethink the way it plays
chess with Iraq’s sectarian groups.
The United States has stumbled on one
tactical blunder after another in its pacification of Iraq. First there was the lack of action
against widespread looting. Then there was
the implementation — seemingly in a vacuum — of de-Baathification and the disbanding of the Iraqi army. Efforts to combat the
burgeoning insurgency were exacerbated
by a painfully slow acknowledgment of its
existence. Now, in its attempt to contain Iranian influence, American policy has reached
a new level of self-contradiction.

Boris Ryvkin ’09 hates unity.

Enrollment in capped courses shouldn’t go to the pushiest
BY ALISON SCHOUTEN
Opinions Columnist
Brown’s open curriculum provides us with
unparalleled academic freedom to pursue
our interests. This freedom is unfortunately
accompanied by a general sense of entitlement. Overall, Brown students feel that they
should be allowed to take whatever classes
they want. Whether it’s a sophomore stalking a professor to be let into that senior seminar or a junior lying about his or her concentration to be admitted to a popular course,
Brown students pride themselves on their
ability to get the exact schedules they want
at any cost. Professors reinforce this sense
of entitlement in the way they select students for their courses.
I support upper-level courses that require
sample work or prerequisites, and I believe
seniors should get priority, especially within
their concentrations. Brown’s commitment
to academic diversity is not reflected in how
many professors choose students for their
seminars, as they often choose the students
who look like a good match for the course on
paper, or just the pushiest students.
Countless courses begin the semester
with the professor handing out index cards
for students to fill out. Name. Year. Concentration. And the dreaded: Why do you want to
or need to take this class?
Of course, there are some courses that
certain people need to take. A future neurosurgeon shouldn’t have trouble getting into
upper-level neuroscience seminars. Students
who cannot overcome their shyness rightfully receive priority in the popular TSDA 0220:
“Persuasive Communication.” But when I
was asked to, in a few sentences, describe

why I needed to take an upper-level MCM
seminar on an obscure topic, I had to wonder
if the professor shouldn’t have just asked me
to rate my ability to B.S. on a scale of 1 to 10.
To be fair, I have little to complain about.
I’ve had no problem arguing my case for being admitted to a class. And then doing it
again. And again. Until shopping period is
over and the professor has no choice. But
what about students who aren’t so persistent
(read: obnoxious)? Is this the kind of ruthless behavior that should be rewarded? Is ac-

that this is for our own academic good. When
I submit writing samples to get into literary
arts courses, I feel that the process of selecting my best work to put forward is useful, and certainly every writer needs to learn
to handle rejection. Some popular seminars
hold interviews or have applications, which
are also beneficial to students in teaching
real-world skills. When I got into a seminar
as a sophomore by not leaving the classroom
when all the sophomores were instructed to,
all I learned was that I can get what I want

I support upper level courses
that require sample work or
prerequisites, and I believe seniors
should get priority, especially
within their concentrations.
ademic freedom turning us into people who
will go into the world and demand things
because we are Brown students and we deserve to get what we want? That just seems
so gross and Harvardish.
When a teacher asks for a few sentences
about why you want to take a course, he or
she is really asking, “Why do you deserve
this more than someone else?” While it’s
great real-world preparation, it’s an illusion

if I make my own rules. Ah, practical knowledge.
Brown needs some consistency, at least
within departments, so that students know
how to appropriately go about being selected for a class. Seniority should always be a
factor, and in introductory lectures, it should
be the main factor. Diversity of opinion and
style is also important, as is experience and
qualification. Particularly in interdisciplinary

courses, however, past experience should not
be the main factor. I remember many of my
friends trying to get into senior international
relations seminars as sophomores and being
rejected at the door. Yet this year, as senior
IR concentrators who must take a seminar to
graduate, they are losing their spots to sophomores who have yet to declare a concentration. This is because these sophomores
have some experience in the specific fields
addressed by the seminars and were allowed
to argue their case. Fair? Not at all. In the
case of concentration requirements, seniority should always win. In general, courses
should be designated to have merit-based entry or seniority-based entry.
If methods for getting into classes are
clear, students won’t resort to inappropriate tactics. The same students shouldn’t be
turned away every semester because they
don’t know how to get around the red tape.
If clearing up course admission rules doesn’t
work, we can always have a good old lottery.
Or I hear some schools allow athletes to register first. Then there’s a Survivor-style vote
of the class-members themselves of who has
to leave. Whatever the method, as determined by the professor, it should be clear
and consistent.
Why do I want to take this class? Because
I saw it on Banner, I thought it looked cool, I
think I can handle the workload and I’m a curious Brown student who likes learning stuff.
I’m awesome, and I would add a ton to this
class, because I am the smartest. My interests align with this perfectly. Maybe I’ll even
double concentrate. But seriously, I am the
best.
Just like everybody else.

Alison Schouten ’08 killed a man to
get this column.

S ports W ednesday
Page 12

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007

THE BROWN DAILY HERALD

M. soccer beats St. Francis 1-0
to continue unbeaten streak

The beauty
of baseball
On Sunday night, I had several loud
yelling fits. I had moments of frozen silence when I could hear my
own heartbeat. My fingers flew as
I texted my loved ones at home in
New York, seeing
if everything was
okay.
Sunday night,
the Yankees were
in Boston. They
faced off against
the
Red Sox in
Ellis Rochelson
one of the most
MLB Exclusive
exciting games
of the season. Curt Schilling and
Roger Clemens brought the most
combined wins to a matchup in the
history of Fenway Park, and both
spun gems. Yankees captain Derek
Jeter launched a towering, two-out,
three-run homer in the eighth inning off Schilling to give the Bombers a 4-1 lead. The BoSox crawled
back. There were two outs, bottom
of the ninth, bases loaded, the score
4-3 and the best closer of all time on
the mound. David Ortiz, one of the
most feared hitters in baseball, was
at the plate. My heart is racing just
remembering the scene.
And yet, when I ask most Brown
students if they follow baseball, they
say, “Nah. It’s too boring.”
BORING?! Seriously? As a lifelong baseball fan, the concept is
difficult for me to grasp. So I try to
think, objectively … why do I love
baseball? What makes it exciting?
What is all the fuss about?
The first thing that comes to
mind is the social benefits. When
I meet someone from Boston, I’ve
got a great ice-breaker right away:
“Hey, can you lend me a hand? I
can’t hold all my 26 rings...” I have
an instant connection with baseball
fans from around the country, especially from Boston. Regardless
of how much they may despise
my team, we’ve got hours of conversation material. Plus, my feverish dedication to the Yanks gives
me a community of thousands of
friends whom I’ve never met.
Going to Yankee Stadium is like
continued on page 7

By Jason Harris
Assistant Sports Editor

Ashley Hess / Herald

Rhett Bernstein ‘09 led the Bears’ defense in a strong performance, with a final
score of 1-0 in Tuesday’s match against St. Francis College.

The men’s soccer team finished its
season-opening five-game homestand
with a perfect 5-0 record after defeating
St. Francis College, 1-0, Tuesday night
at Stevenson Field. The loss dropped
the Terriers to 2-4-1 on the season.
Brown had a quick turnaround following an emotional 1-0 win against
in-state rival the University of Rhode
Island on Sunday.
Brown applied early pressure on
the Terriers, controlling the ball for
most of the first half, though the back
of the net evaded them. Defender Rhett
Bernstein ’09 had a header blocked,
Darren Howerton ’09 hit the crossbar and forward Dylan Sheehan ’09
— who came into the game with an
Ivy League-leading four goals — had
several of his shots saved or sail wide
of the cage.
Brown finally broke through the
Terriers’ defense when Sheehan received a pass from midfielder Chris
Roland ’10 with 18 minutes to play in
the first half. Sheehan was taken down
in the box, and Brown was awarded a
penalty kick.
But the penalty shot by co-captain

Matt Brinter ’08 was saved by Terriers
goalie Chris Antonino, who dove to his
right to deflect the shot.
Head Coach Mike Noonan said
the Bears just didn’t get any breaks
early on.
“We didn’t have much luck,” Noonan said. “We hit the crossbar. We
missed a penalty and the goalkeeper
made a few brilliant saves.”
But the Bears stayed aggressive,
and their first-to-the-ball mentality finally paid off with 15 minutes to play in
the opening half. Howerton, who came
into the match leading the Ivy League
with three assists, played a free kick
from the right side to the 6-yard box.
Both Sheehan and co-captain Stephen
Sawyer ’09 appeared to get a piece of
the ball, which flew by Antonino and
into the net. Sheehan was credited
with the goal, giving him a tally in each
of the last five games.
“It hit a few people,” Sheehan said.
“I kind of looked around and Rhett
said, ‘It’s your goal.’”
Sheehan attributed his hot start
mostly to being in the right place at
the right time.
“I can’t take too much credit,”
Sheehan said. “I have five goals on
continued on page 4

During its fall season, the women’s
tennis team competes in far fewer
matches than it does in its spring
season. But this weekend, the Bears
showed that fewer matches doesn’t
necessarily precipitate rusty play.
At two competitions this weekend ­— the Eastern Championships
in West Point, N.Y., and the Columbia Invitational in New York City —
Brown enjoyed a number of standout individual performances.
After finishing with a 4-3 league
record last spring and winning its
final four Ivy League matches, the
team carried its momentum into
the season-opening tournaments.

The team split its squad between
the two weekend events.
At the Eastern Championships,
Brown played Brett Finkelstein ’09,
Tanja Vucetic ’10, Marisa Schonfeld
’11 and Ashley Butler ’11. Schonfeld
made an immediate impression as
she won both her matches in the
No. 1 singles flight to reach the
quarterfinals of the event.
Schonfeld faced Denise Harijanto from the University of Buffalo
for a spot in the semifinals, but after
spitting the first two sets she came
out on the losing end of a 10-5 tiebreaker. Finkelstein won her first
match in the same flight but fell in
the round of 32. She played again
on Sunday, going 2-1 in the back
draw.

Vucetic turned in the most determined effort at the Eastern Championships. The sophomore lost her
first match on Friday, 6-2, 6-4, to put
her in the No. 2 singles consolation
bracket. But with a combination of
persistence and skilled play, Vucetic
won four straight matches to win
the bracket. After bouncing back
to take her first-round consolation
match on Friday, Vucetic won her
quarter and semifinal consolation
matches on Saturday by proset
scores of 8-5 and 8-4, respectively.
On Sunday, Vucetic put the finishing touches on her run by taking
down Colgate University’s Sam
Inacker 8-2 in the final.
Brown performed admirably in
its competition at Columbia as well,

sending six players to New York
to compete against the host Lions
on Friday. The Bears won two of
the three doubles matches, and
split the singles matches 6-6 with
Columbia.
Kathrin Sorokko ’10 and Bianca
Aboubakare ’11 led the way with
two wins each. The next day Brown
squared off with the University
of Pennsylvania. While the team
dropped the doubles competitions
and fell in singles 6-5, Brown once
again showed the strength of its
underclassmen as Aboubakare and
Itsuka Kurihara ’11 won both their
matches.
The Bears will next play in two
weeks when they host the Brown
Invitational.

The women’s golf team competed in
its first tournament of the fall season
last weekend, playing at the Dartmouth Golf Club in Hanover, N.H.
Brown was tied for second place at
325 after the first day, but finished
the tournament sixth out of 14 with
a team score of 666 (325-341).
The women’s golf team has a
young lineup this year, highlighted by three freshman additions.
Despite playing in their first collegiate tournament, Sarah Guarascio
’11, Julie Robinson ’11 and Susan
Restrepo ’11 all made significant
contributions. Guarascio had an
especially striking debut with a tworound 164 (79-85), which tied her
with captain Blythe Crane ’08 for
first on the team and 19th in the
tournament. Robinson finished in
27th place at 166 (81-85) and Restrepo shot a 177 (88-89). Veteran
Holly Snyder ’09 placed 40th at 172
(84-88).

Crane said she was pleased with
this start of the season.
“Both Coach (Danielle Griffith)
and I were very proud of the whole
team. All three freshmen had solid
scores. Of course, we always wish
we had scored better, but this is a
good start for the season and we
are going to work to get better for
the future,” Crane said.
In assessing her own performance, Crane was more critical, despite her top score for the Bears.
“Personally, I think I played mediocre this past weekend. But as I
play more tournaments, I will pick
up again,” she said.
The men’s golf team also saw
action in Bolton, Mass., where it
competed in the Hartford Invitational. After three rounds of tough
competition, the Bears finished
13th with a team total of 946 (310317-319).
In past seasons, the team played
mostly in two-day 36-hole tournaments. This year, the team is competing in 54-hole tournaments with

36 holes on the first day and 18 on
the second.
Head Coach Mike Harbour
stressed this change as imperative to prepare the athletes for the
Ivy League Championship in the
spring.
“The Ivy League Championship is a 54-hole tournament. In
order to be ready both mentally
and physically prepared for it, we
have to compete in tournaments
like it against tougher opponents,”
Harbour said.
Larry Haertel ’08, the defending
New England champion, led the
Bears with a 25th place finish of
228 (79-76-73). Michael Amato ’11
came in second on the team with
a 237 (76-81-80).
As a new addition to the team,
Amato said his goal was to contribute as much as he could to the
team.
“We all feel the team could do a
lot better than this past weekend.
No one played to their capability.
We have a solid team with solid

players. Our goal is to win the Ivy
League Championship at the end of
the year. Right now we are trying
to put ourselves in a position to
achieve that goal,” Amato said.
Ryan Larsen ’08 finished at 242
(83-79-80), Chris Hoffman ’09 followed at 243 (76-81-86) and John
Giannuzzi ’10 shot a 250 (79-8388).
Harbour said some of the athletes might feel intimidated by the
bigger tournaments.
“We have to get comfortable
with playing long tournaments and
against tougher opponents. Last
year, we finished second at the
Ivies. This year, our long-term goal
is to win the Ivies, but in the short
run, we have to improve along the
way to be ready.”
The women’s team will compete
next in the two-day Princeton Invitational in New Jersey this weekend,
while the men’s team will compete
in the Adams Cup of Rhode Island
at Newport on Saturday and Sunday.

DSPics.com

Larry Haertel ‘08 led Brown at the Hartford Invitational with a 25th-place finish.